By Jonique Gaynor, Staff Reporter

The recent news of Sara Lawrence's pregnancy has caused a big buzz in the pageant and entertainment worlds, and tongues are wagging all over town.

The fact that she is the first Miss Jamaica World to become pregnant during her reign is perhaps a main reason for the allure, and it seems everyone wants to comment on this 'historic moment'.

Looking on from the outside, we always think we know what happened and we are always quick to make judgements and jump to conclusions. We all become philosophers when we are talking about other people's lives. But really, we should all just be quiet and leave the girl alone. After all, we have no idea what her circumstances are and we don't know anything about her life, except that she was wearing a crown that represented us all. So yes, maybe it is a bit of a shocker, but it is not like the girl killed someone. She got pregnant and she's having a baby and life goes on.

What she did was very honourable, instead of forcing the organisers to wrest the crown from her, she simply handed it back. Now, you'd think that after doing that people would cut her some slack. If you do X, you're judged, and if you do Y, you're judged. Really, what's a girl to do? Would they have preferred if she ran off into hiding with the crown and refused to give it up? Should she have aborted her child, just for the few months of her reign?

The organisers of this pageant are also to be blamed. They say they are uplifting women and empowering them and what not, but their rules are doing the opposite. Why can't a married woman be Miss Jamaica World? Does it make her less of a woman? She can't be a role model if she's happily married? What? I just don't get it. These rules sound like they were taken straight from the pages of 'The Puritan's Guide to Being a Good Woman' and the only thing left for the critics to do is brand Sara with a capital P, the way the Puritans branded Hester Prynne.

The mistake

Instead of reflecting on all Sara achieved during her reign, the critics are now only concerned with the 'mistake' she made and the disgrace she has brought to the nation. Now, really, what do they mean by disgrace? Did they hear of all the things Miss USA recently admitted to doing? She admitted to underaged drinking and to taking coke. Now, I might be silly, but I would much rather have a pregnant queen who relinquished her crown with dignity, than a party animal, who admitted to doing drugs and held on to the crown to the bitter end. Who would you want your child to be like?

You know, I'm really sick of people acting like getting pregnant is the end of the world. Are they forgetting that the young lady already holds a degree? So, yes, she might be a bit young, but younger girls have had babies and with the right support, which I'm sure Sara has, she and her child will do just fine.